How many flute players smoke?

fluter_d · Post by **fluter_d** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 12:54 pm

Smoking ban comes into force next ?September? Or January... One of those months that have rs in them...

No, it definitely is happening.
It should be interesting.
Maybe then the wood of my flute will stop smelling of smoke...

Deirdre

Ro3b · Post by **Ro3b** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 1:47 pm

I've heard the ban goes into effect in January. I can imagine the outcry.

I smoke cigars, but I don't smoke very much when I'm playing. A really good cigar demands more attention than I can give it in a session. (Unless the session really sucks and it gets to be more entertaining to roll smoke around in my mouth than to try to play.

)

Doirlinn · Post by **Doirlinn** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 2:30 pm

Hi Nano,

It hasn't kicked in yet, so who knows...

http://www.eiro.eurofound.ie/2003/02/In ... 2202N.html

piperben · Post by **piperben** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 4:34 pm

I smoke about 200 roll up cigs a day!
My lungs are black with tar. I don't need to oil my flute cos it has a nice thick tar coating which is 100% water proof.

Seiously, I smoke a bit and play a lot. I don't think it makes a lot of difference. A lot of top players have the odd ciggie now and then

brownja · Post by **brownja** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:58 am

The best flute player around here is a smoker.
I'm a competitive cyclist (ok, used to be, i'm older and fatter than i used to be) with a resting pulse in the low 40's and still have trouble getting through full sets without getting winded.
Conclusion, it's technique and efficiency rather than absolute lung capacity that makes the difference.
Cheers,
jb

fluter_d · Post by **fluter_d** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 7:23 am

Well, Brownja, technique and efficiency have a lot to do with it... But once you get to the stage where you can play, it doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me to smoke. I've seen too many flute players who've been playing and smoking all their lives, and who still play well but can't play more than a few notes per breath. Flute's hard enough.
Having said all that, though, most of the best recorded flute players out there do smoke. I guess we'll see in twenty years' time!
Then I can be rich and famous... hehheh

!
Deirdre

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 6:02 am

Being in a health profession, I get to see first-hand what can happen to people who smoke ~

But I realize it can be hard to quit. Blackbeer, I wish you luck if you are trying to kick the habit, and I hope you can do it. You have a lot of friends here to support you!

I don't smoke, but that doesn't mean I am that great a flute player by any means

But I'm trying.......

Mary

rhodeirish · Post by **rhodeirish** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 7:26 am

Not only do I not smoke, I'm finding that as I get older I'm becoming less and less tolerant of smokey pubs. Irritates my eyes. Destroys my throat. I have to shower when I go home because I can't stand the smell.

While I'd love to see the pubs all go smoke free, I get a bit antsy about all the laws that are getting passed. Civil liberties and all that. And I know the arguments cut both ways.

In any case, if I walk into a nicotine sauna, I usually walk right back out again.

John Harvey

Post by **Nanohedron** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 12:08 pm

Nicotine sauna!

I'm gonna use that one.

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 6:34 pm

[quote="rhodeirish"]

nicotine sauna

Descriptive!!!!!

The Sporting Pitchfork · Fri May 02, 2003 12:25 am

I too smoke and play the flute and (so far, anyways), it doesn`t seem to have affected my phrasing/lung capacity. If it does begin to have an effect, it`ll be one more very good reason to quit (smoking, that is, not flute playing). I`ve been trying to quit, but I live in Japan y` see and here, you don`t need to go into a bar to find a nicotine sauna, you`ve just got to walk into the office!
With regard to the fact that many top players happen to be smokers and play very short phrases: this certainly seems to be true of some players, but a few manage to overcome it. One can only wonder what they would be capable of if they didn`t smoke. Take Frankie Kennedy, for example. When playing faster tunes, his phrasing sounded pretty short, but on slow airs he could really go for a while. Also on the original "Altan" album, there`s a track where he drones on an a for what seems like an eternity. Wasn`t it lung cancer that did him in?

brad maloney · Post by **brad maloney** » Fri May 02, 2003 7:16 am

Here's a cute article...

http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/05 ... index.html

I find it ironic that these days more people are health concious & avoiding things that are bad for you, but obesity & cancer rates are at record highs.

Lifeforms · Post by **Lifeforms** » Wed May 07, 2003 5:58 pm

Sorry to drag an older topic up again!

I smoke, and play the flute. I'm not a wonderful player, and i dont see how smoking affects the playing, but then again I smoked before i learnt.

But i can't say that i like to play in a very smoky area. I tend to go outside the room if im practice playing. Eventually i will give it up, it is a nasty habit, but i'm not going to say im sorry i started. I quite enjoy it, and was fully compus mentus when i did. I was over the age and knew the risks.

Didnt know that a lot of famous flute players smoked though. Interesting concept the drag and blow down a flute!

Dave Parkhurst · Post by **Dave Parkhurst** » Thu May 08, 2003 12:31 am

DON'T smoke!!!! period!!! I am not coming from a 'morality' point of view... but from someone who has just spent 2 years training in Internal Medicine, Family Practice and E.R.. I personally don't want to have to take care of anyone in those last few years of life when their lungs finally start crapping out... it's depressing and draining. Unless you're going to name me in your will and you already own a fully keyed Rudall Carte Boehm.... then, that's a different matter... heh heh heh
Dave

pixyy · Post by **pixyy** » Thu May 08, 2003 2:37 am

I quit smoking rollies more than a year ago.
That was not long after I started playing the flute - so I could say that my flute playing improved tremendously after quitting

Though I don't think smoking affects the ability to play the flute, for me quitting has been an enormous 'lung liberation'. A load off my chest so to speak, which makes me play more relaxed.

Once I was brave enough to take my flute out in the local session, played a tune, and the flute player I was talking with also played a tune on my flute; he's a smoker. Next time I took it out I could not believe the stench. Like playing with nose in an old ashtray. Yuk!

I do occasionally smoke small aromatic cigars - so for the record I still voted that i smoke. Healthwise it sure beats the 20+ rollies though

happy fluting
Jeroen

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